'Flesh-eating' Bacteria Kill Cleveland Patient

June 24, 1994

CLEVELAND — A 40-year-old man has died after being diagnosed with a strain of ''flesh-eating'' bacteria, a hospital spokeswoman said Thursday. University Hospitals of Cleveland confirmed the death last week of the patient who had necrotizing fasciitis, which produces toxins that deprive cells of oxygen, killing them at a rate of a square inch an hour. There have been numerous reports of deaths this year from the bacteria in the United States and Europe.